PixlBit

Games of the Decade #2/Blog a Day #29

Hello everyone, how are you?

Everyone has a game that they loved during their childhood or at the very least when they were younger. It's a game you love so much but unfortunately you no longer have it, no longer have the means to play it, or it feels outdated. This is where remakes come in which takes everything that you loved about the original game and they rebuild it from the ground up and add a number of modern features. Today we will be looking at a remake of the best games in the series from a really popular franchise, probably my favorite remake of all time, Pokemon SoulSilver.

                                      The music in this game is beautifully redone ♥

Backstory time: The original Pokemon Gold and Silver released back in the year 2000, ushering the next generation of Pokemon known as Generation 2 and if there's one thing I remember is that Pokemon was everywhere back then. The games brought a number of new features that have been staples for most of the games since as well as a new region to explore and brand new Pokemon to discover. The games are hailed as the best games in the series and rightfully so. It was the year 2009 and we were getting remakes of the 2nd generation games, which was super exciting. In 2010 we finally got Pokemon HeartGold and Pokemon SoulSilver, remakes of the original games and you can bet I was excited. Since I picked Silver version back in the day I naturally went with SoulSilver. Question is, how does it stack up to the original game?

Pokemon is pretty self explanatory. You start off in your home town, you pick out your first starter Pokemon, catch Pokemon, battle other trainers, you compete in gyms, defeat an evil organization, catch Pokemon and become the Pokemon League Champion. And catch Pokemon in case I missed that part. That's pretty much the premise of the games without going too much in-depth.

What's new in HG/SS at first glance is the enhanced graphics, which are like the ones from the previous Pokemon games on the DS. Pokemon games aren't known to push the graphical capabilities of the system they are on but the graphics look really great and they really make the game(s) feel like a brand new game. It was amazing looking at familiar places with a new coat of paint. Since the games are running on the 4th Gen engine, the battle mechanics have been improved using the current mechanics at the time.

    

                      Walking with your Pokemon has never been more fun or healthy

I feel like the biggest addition to the games is the ability to have any Pokemon follow you outside in the game. The previous games did it in a limited fashion but they did what they did in Pokemon Yellow version where you had Pikachu follow you outside wherever you went. Like in Yellow version, you can have a Pokemon follow you and you can even talk to it to see how it is feeling and every now and then your Pokemon will find items as well.

The games come packed with the Pokewalker, which is basically a pedometer so you can transfer one Pokemon from your game and you can take your Pokemon with you when you're out and about. Your Pokemon in the Pokewalker earn experience points, find items, and and even encounter wild Pokemon. You can basically take your Pokemon with you wherever you go. You can then transfer them back to the games and you get this little adorable story of what your Pokemon was doing while out on a stroll with you. I really love that little attention to detail.

"But Captain N, where can I play this game?" Well unfortunately you're out of luck, this game is almost 10 years old and has been out of print for a long time. Finding a new copy at a decent price is next to impossible and don't even get me started on used copies as those are expensive too. I feel like your best bet is to check a local game store that still sell DS games and hopefully you are lucky enough to find a copy at a decent price. The games are definitely worth their weight in gold and silver, literally.

            

                        Walking around with your Pokemon is a big highlight in the game

Final Thoughts: Pokemon SoulSilver is without a doubt the best remake I have ever played. I have played many other remakes over the years and while great in their own right, they don't come close to these games. I love the enhanced graphics and mechanics and I love all the new features they added. One of the best parts is that it just captures the atmosphere of the Johto region really well in many ways that the original Gold and Silver couldn't. Even Kanto feels much more lively than it did back then. The music is really well done too it just sounds amazing hearing new versions of familiar tunes they really outdid themselves with the music. There's also an item in the game that changes the music back to the original music too if you want to feel nostalgic. Everything you loved about the original games is here and more. They even included the story elements from 2001's Pokemon Crystal version which was an enhanced version of Gold and Silver at the time.

I never would have imagined that they would remake these games. They have remade the very first games in the series but you would of thought that those games were a one time thing since FireRed and LeafGreen were made to fix the biggest blunder they did during the 3rd Generation. And that was allowing you to obtain older Pokemon from the first 2 generations because you couldn't transfer none of your old Game Boy Pokemon to the Game Boy Advance games. I understand they couldn't do it due to different hardware but still doesn't change the fact that it was expensive to be able to Catch Em' All back then with all the things you needed.

SoulSilver perfectly captures the nostalgia and those memories I had when I was a kid playing through Silver version. It takes me back to a much simpler time when the only thing I cared about in the world was Pokemon. And that's what they were going for, to fully capture those feelings and memories you had while playing the original games. But they also feel like brand new games as well with all the number of enhancements and features which never get intrusive or anything to ruin the spirit of the original games. They exactly knew what to improve and what to leave alone. The games feel familiar yet fresh if you know what I'm trying to say.

The silence before this battle sets the tone so you know this battle matters, it's all or nothing...

A personal favorite memory of mine is when I was catching Pokemon in the new Safari Zone area that they added in the game. The Safari Zone is an area that has wild Pokemon that you can catch, the only difference is that you can't battle them with your own Pokemon. Your only options is to toss Safari Balls at them which are Pokeballs that they provide for you and hope that the Pokemon gets caught. You can toss a rock at a Pokemon to make them easier to catch, or use bait to make a Pokemon stay longer because Pokemon in the Safari Zone tend to run away. You can also run away but who wants to do that? Well while I was looking for Pokemon to fill my Pokedex I encountered a Dragonair but the difference here is that it was a shiny Dragonair. I spent 30 minutes trying to catch this thing and planning my moves really wisely because any action I did could cause it to run away. I somehow caught it and those were the longest 30 minutes of my life and the most intense wild encounter/battle I've ever had. Never went back to the Safari Zone since.

The remakes came at a perfect time in my life when I wanted to close a certain chapter in my life and start a new beginning. And what better way than the last games of the 4th Generation of Pokemon happened to be remakes of the best games in the series. It certainly made the ordeal I went through the year prior to the release of these games worth it I suppose. The town you start from in Pokemon Gold/HeartGold and Silver/SoulSilver is named New Bark Town and the motto for the town is "Winds of a New Beginning" which perfectly encapsulates a new beginning for me. A new start. Was it fate, destiny, or a sign? I don't know but feels like it was well-timed to me. Whatever the case, HeartGold and SoulSilver are the gold and silver standard with what remakes are and should be. The original games will always hold a special place in my heart and so do these remakes. It will take something special to dethrone them for me.

Also Pokemon Stadium released 20 years ago today on a Leap Year and we are ending this BaD post with a Pokemon game on a Leap Year too. Imagine that. And so that's the end of Blog a Day and I know what you're thinking, "But Captain N, where is game number 1?" Like I mentioned before BaD started, I have big plans for game number 1. Thing is the post is not quite finished just yet. I am working on it but it isn't ready so I will publish that one at a much later date. I have a ton to say about it and I have been working on it for ages, so I'm sorry if it isn't out yet. I want it to be one of if not the best post I have ever made. Hence why it's coming at a much later date but you'll know once you see it.

But yeah that does it, and this might be the very last BaD post on the site for this year. I will be back soon with more stuff, I'm working on other things outside of my number 1 game of the decade so hope you look forward to that as well. I don't know how much longer I can keep participating in BaD but I hope to be able to participate for as long as I can. That's all for now, thank you very much for reading and commenting on my posts. Take care and have a good one.